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Stef Adriaenssens

@stefa3.bsky.social
149 followers 324 following 170 posts

Economic sociologist @ Economics Dep. KU Leuven Informal & underground economy, hidden populations, sex work, begging, survival activities

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Stef Adriaenssens @stefa3.bsky.social · 05/08/2026
👉 There is no support for a displacement effect to neighbouring municipalities. 👉 This type of direct empirical evidence of extremely poor people's response to regulation is rare, especially because they tend to be excluded from many population surveys.
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Stef Adriaenssens @stefa3.bsky.social · 05/08/2026
👉 Scholarship is divided about poor people's compliance with regulations 👉 The natural experiment allows us to show that parents of small children respond to the voting of the bylaw by mostly stopping to bring their children while begging.
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Stef Adriaenssens @stefa3.bsky.social · 05/08/2026
Happy about this piece of research with Teodora Soare. 👉 We collected surveys of people who beg in Brussels in the final months of 2021 and before the summer of 2022. 👉Between these waves, the Brussels city council voted a bylaw forbidding begging in the company of minors. doi.org/10.1177/0038...
doi.org
Does the law matter for the poor? Evaluating the response to a child begging regulation - Stef Adriaenssens, Teodora Soare, 2026
Some scholars argue that poverty reduces responsiveness to regulatory incentives, reducing the law’s deterrent effects. Conversely, some expect the poor to asse...
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Stef Adriaenssens @stefa3.bsky.social · 14/07/2026
Reminds me of tax under patrimonial states: You pay tax so that we can protect you. Who do you protect us from? Ourselves!
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Stef Adriaenssens @stefa3.bsky.social · 14/07/2026
My neighbourhood maffioso has rebranded his extortion money: a fee it is! www.nytimes.com/2026/07/13/b...
nytimes.com
Trump’s Strait of Hormuz Fee Could Double the Cost of Shipping
The potential expense of a 20 percent charge to move oil and other goods through the strait has stirred concern among shippers.
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Stef Adriaenssens @stefa3.bsky.social · 21/06/2026
"We need more serious consideration of alternative hypotheses, more good-faith steelmanning, and more engagement with contradictory findings (...)." This should be an open door; that it is not is testimony to the problem of our discipline. #Sociology connorsinstitute.substack.com/p/rigor-or-r...
connorsinstitute.substack.com
Rigor or Ruin: Sociology’s Reckoning Has Arrived
Disseminating high-quality nonpartisan information to the American public around issues like information literacy, societal well-being, and democracy promotion.
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Stef Adriaenssens @stefa3.bsky.social · 20/06/2026
Meanwhile, at the reflecting pool.
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Stef Adriaenssens @stefa3.bsky.social · 20/06/2026
Ideology is ... veiling "for me but not for thee" under sanctimony ... presenting benefits as costless ... seeing costs without benefits ... transferring sanctity to mundane things ... debasing sacred things to the mundane ... equating followers to "the people" ... labelling the others "un-people"
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Stef Adriaenssens @stefa3.bsky.social · 19/06/2026
With all those Versailles jokes arpind, I was wondering: would anyone have dared to ask POTUS to have the signing ceremony in a train wagon?
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Stef Adriaenssens @stefa3.bsky.social · 01/06/2026
Patiënts just above the threshold labelled as obese (BMI 30) suffer a 40% mortality penalty when admitted to the emergency or ICU. Indeed:stigma kills. Pretty important to understand discrimination effects, also in areas such as race and sex work. #Sociology #EconSky www.nber.org/papers/w3527...
nber.org
Deadly Stigma
Founded in 1920, the NBER is a private, non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to conducting economic research and to disseminating research findings among academics, public policy makers, an...
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Stef Adriaenssens @stefa3.bsky.social · 24/04/2026
And Marx was involved in two duels throughout his life. He fought one, as a student, and sent an associate to fight the other one on his behalf.
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Stef Adriaenssens @stefa3.bsky.social · 23/04/2026
Indeed. And as far as natural experiments go, at the right-hand side of the OMG distribution.
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Stef Adriaenssens @stefa3.bsky.social · 22/04/2026
Empathie eisen van anderen maar het zelf weigeren te geven: "Wie in de grote stad leeft, stemt overwegend Democratisch, want als je buren op je lip hebt zitten, kom je er niet mee weg alle dagen een arrogante hork te zijn." www.standaard.be/opinies/hoe-...
standaard.be
Hoe herken je een Maga-Amerikaan? Een rood petje en sneren naar “de communisten in Europa” verklappen al veel
In de Verenigde Staten ontmoet Ester Meerman mensen van alle slag. Vaak progressieven in de grote steden, en veel trumpisten in landelijke gebieden. Maar er zijn uitzonderingen.
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Stef Adriaenssens @stefa3.bsky.social · 12/04/2026
Is Bernard Arnault the Fritz Thyssen of France? www.politico.eu/article/far-...
politico.eu
Le Pen met France’s richest man and other major CEOs at secret dinner
The French business community has been trying to build bridges with the far right for months.
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Stef Adriaenssens @stefa3.bsky.social · 12/04/2026
Brexit: migration for me, but not for thee?
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Stef Adriaenssens @stefa3.bsky.social · 23/03/2026
Milord, most famous by Edith Piaf (written by George Moustaki).
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Stef Adriaenssens @stefa3.bsky.social · 21/03/2026
Happy that The Economist is focusing on the economic approach of sex work. And proud that they draw quite a bit from our research and my book "Sex Work by Numbers" (Emerald). www.economist.com/finance-and-...
economist.com
The new economics of sex work
Economists have largely ignored sex work despite it being a large industry worth almost $100bn annually, with new research methods emerging to study this complex market.
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Stef Adriaenssens @stefa3.bsky.social · 07/03/2026
Laugh at your own dad joke, seeing the nonverbal irritation. Honni soit qui mal y pense!
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Stef Adriaenssens @stefa3.bsky.social · 05/03/2026
Definite proof: human societies have shrunk.
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Stef Adriaenssens @stefa3.bsky.social · 03/03/2026
This figure raises so many questions. Do people in Africa appreciate bread and butter more than bullets (Russia) or empty words (EU)? Is the low appreciation for the EU driven by memories of former colonisers? Is the democratic or autocratic quality of countries really irrelevant? #Afrobarometer
Positive or negative influence of external actors.
Source: Afrobarometer
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Reposted by Stef Adriaenssens
Per Engzell @pengzell.bsky.social · 17/02/2026
Problem about the loneliness epidemic is, it's everywhere except in representative survey data. Let's look at where the claim comes from. 1/
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Stef Adriaenssens @stefa3.bsky.social · 14/02/2026
On a Belgian train, a man threatened an American foursome. The group flees; bystanders try to help, suggesting they call the embassy, which is declined. Suspect is arrested. Later, the group claims on FB knife threats (not found on him or on the scene) and to have received no help (not).
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Reposted by Stef Adriaenssens
Steve Peers @stevepeers.bsky.social · 14/02/2026
Interesting analysis of the recent Commission fine imposed on X for breaching the EU Digital Services Act www.techpolicy.press/what-the-eus...
techpolicy.press
What the EU’s X Decision Reveals About How the DSA Is Enforced
The European Commission's €120M fine against X exposes how it enforces the DSA, targeting design, transparency, and data access failures across the platform.
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Stef Adriaenssens @stefa3.bsky.social · 30/01/2026
Lol! Ctrl-h "Somali" -> "Scandinavian"
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Stef Adriaenssens @stefa3.bsky.social · 30/01/2026
The country is such a paradox: well-governed by most standards, but so much demand for populist representation.
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Stef Adriaenssens @stefa3.bsky.social · 30/01/2026
Indeed. Same parties plus CU, but, as you said, with a majority back then.
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Stef Adriaenssens @stefa3.bsky.social · 30/01/2026
"Mostly the same parties" is quite the statement, given that only one of the four previous coalition parties is in the new cabinet.
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Stef Adriaenssens @stefa3.bsky.social · 27/01/2026
OK with that, just a bit off to call what you name a corner 'academia'. But, hey, stressful days indeed. No offence.
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Stef Adriaenssens @stefa3.bsky.social · 27/01/2026
"Prosecute every last one of Trump's thugs who are murdering Americans". Non-Americans still irrelevant?
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Stef Adriaenssens @stefa3.bsky.social · 27/01/2026
So academia enabled this shitshow because of some infighting on Appadurai? Not the whole of academia that embeds tech (or vice versa), not reactionary legal thought, not detached crazies uninterested in furthering knowledge, not technical progress without ethics? Gadver...
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Stef Adriaenssens @stefa3.bsky.social · 27/01/2026
Ich erinnere mich!
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Stef Adriaenssens @stefa3.bsky.social · 24/01/2026
Most of my fellow Europeans know all too well how hard it is to withstand authoritarian backsliding. At least those with some knowledge of their own recent history. Maybe just started believing that it should be easy, programmed by all those movies of heroism against evil?
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Stef Adriaenssens @stefa3.bsky.social · 24/01/2026
Dear student, your introduction should be both truthful and intriguing, informing your reader and motivating her to continue. www.nytimes.com/2026/01/23/w...
Citation from the NYT:
It has been accused of interfering in European elections. It is searching the homes of journalists, apprehending anti-government protesters and prosecuting political opponents. And it is now eyeing the takeover of another nation’s land.

It isn’t Russia. It is the United States.
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Stef Adriaenssens @stefa3.bsky.social · 18/01/2026
Dat een button dragen geen burgerschap is, lijkt me nogal nonsensicaal. Een banaan is ook geen burgerschap. Maar waarschijnlijk bedoelt ze dat het zwak is. Dat hangt dan echt af van de button en de context, zou ik zeggen. Een button kan ook een 'Hier sta ik, ik kan niet anders' zijn.
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Stef Adriaenssens @stefa3.bsky.social · 17/01/2026
Great discussion of a great book: 'The business of pleasure' by elwinhofman.bsky.social, Magaly Rodríguez García, and Pieter Vanhees open.spotify.com/episode/4tWW...
open.spotify.com
Elwin Hofman et al. eds., "The Business of Pleasure: A History of Paid Sex in the Heart of Europe" (Leuven UP, 2022)
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Stef Adriaenssens @stefa3.bsky.social · 15/01/2026
Oh boy... www.nytimes.com/2026/01/15/u...
nytimes.com
Chinese Universities Surge in Global Rankings as U.S. Schools Slip
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Stef Adriaenssens @stefa3.bsky.social · 13/01/2026
Save 30% when you order directly from Emerald Publishing by quoting code EMERALD30 when you check out.
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Stef Adriaenssens @stefa3.bsky.social · 13/01/2026
The book begins with a dedication to all the sex workers around the world, and breathes the ambition to help society and its policies to allow them to live their lives to the fullest (rather than barring them).
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Stef Adriaenssens @stefa3.bsky.social · 13/01/2026
I am excited and proud to announce the release of my book, "Sex Work by Numbers." The electronic version will be available tomorrow, January 14, and the print version will be published on February 25. www.emerald.com/books/monogr...
emerald.com
Sex Work by Numbers: Bridging Economics and Social Sciences to Understand the Hidden World of Commercial Sex
In social science research, scholars can be challenged when those involved are vested in keeping their activities, experiences, or realities hidden. In the
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Stef Adriaenssens @stefa3.bsky.social · 12/01/2026
Internationaal recht is niet gerespecteerd, dat zal wel. Dat dit vooral een imperialistisch-economisch doel moet dienen is bepaald verzwarend. En vanuit realpolitik perspectief: wat ben je als je goedpraat als diezelfde would-be bezetter naar een Europees land lonkt? Kortzichtig? Laf?
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Reposted by Stef Adriaenssens
Scott Horton @robertscotthorton.bsky.social · 06/01/2026
Solid analysis here from Rosa Balfour about how European fecklessness in dealing with Trump is undermining Europe's image around the world. carnegieendowment.org/europe/strat...
carnegieendowment.org
The Cost of Europe’s Weak Venezuela Response
International rules are only as strong as the democratic states supporting them. In the wake of the U.S. military operation in Venezuela, Europeans have a vested interest in making a compelling case f...
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Stef Adriaenssens @stefa3.bsky.social · 04/01/2026
A whole new level of globalisation: a presidency exporting its citizens to foreign gulags, and importing a fellow-strongman to a domestic prison.
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Stef Adriaenssens @stefa3.bsky.social · 02/01/2026
Thanks a million!
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Stef Adriaenssens @stefa3.bsky.social · 14/12/2025
Bizar interview, met een soortement rechtse hutsepot, waar je moet vissen naar wat 'liberaal' betekent. Als klap op de vuurpijl: iedereen die het niet eens is, die is dom. Héél sterk Dunning-Krugersignaal.
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Stef Adriaenssens @stefa3.bsky.social · 10/12/2025
Two smart old men shocked by the brutal and, let's be honest, cruel and unstylish approach of the US stated policy.
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Stef Adriaenssens @stefa3.bsky.social · 10/12/2025
"What does Europe do when confronting a power that has the aim of causing racial war on your continent?"
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Stef Adriaenssens @stefa3.bsky.social · 10/12/2025
"It’s absolutely astonishing to me, I suppose I’m naive, it’s got so far that the US considers the civilisation it’s defending not as a series of values, but as – let’s be brutal- skin colour and religion."
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Stef Adriaenssens @stefa3.bsky.social · 10/12/2025
"A key emphasis very clearly in this document, when it refers to the civilisational crisis of Europe, it’s very clearly framed as racial." open.spotify.com/episode/3fWw...
open.spotify.com
The Wolf-Krugman Exchange: America vs. the world
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Stef Adriaenssens @stefa3.bsky.social · 09/12/2025
Especially this variant: If you have two cows, the Government takes them and then gives you some milk. Which -ism did this represent? Drum drum... Communism!
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Stef Adriaenssens @stefa3.bsky.social · 09/12/2025
This makes me think of the old "two cows" joke. www.nytimes.com/2025/12/08/u...
nytimes.com
Trump Insists Tariffs Will Buoy the Economy. For Now, He’s on Damage Control.
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